Instagram is betting it can make its take on the friends list more successful by simplifying it. Unlike Facebook, you’ll have a single list to manage. Unlike Twitter, the list is private. And unlike any I’ve seen, Instagram’s list has visual flair. The green “favorites” badge is a small thing, but it signals your affection to the friends of yours who see it, in a way that I suspect will build a sense of intimacy. Seeing a favorites post nestled in among all the other posts in your feed feels like a bonus.

After moving into my new place a few months ago, I was determined to put a smart speaker in every room of the house. And yet the more I looked into my options, the more helpless I felt. None of the speakers on the market do what I want them to do. And it's unclear when the speakers I do want are coming to market — what they'll cost when they arrive.

That led the team to think about interactive storytelling — about whether it could offer a modern, televised version of the old Choose Your Own Adventure series, which sold 250 million copies in the 1980s and ‘90s. The multiple-choice approach to narrative was already the default for video games and educational software. And hit Hollywood movies had also played with branching narratives, from Clue to Sliding Doors to Memento. The fact that interactivity had not yet come to television came to look, from Netflix’s perspective, like a technical problem. And so it set about building.

I attend E3 as a journalist, but in my heart I’m also a fan — glad for a chance to play Shadow of War before the rest of the world, just as any of my game-playing friends would be. An E3 geared more toward average people would ensure that thousands of fans leave LA as ambassadors, doing the hard work of promoting developers’ games for free. Turning digital games into temporary physical spaces is time-consuming and expensive. But at a time when consumers crave new experiences above all else, game developers may just find that it’s worth it.

If you’re just learning to get your finances in order, or you’re ready to start giving them some more thought, you have a wealth of app options. You can get by with a single app for music, maps, notes, and calendars, but when it comes to managing your money, no one app will do. Your bank’s app will tell you how much money is in your account, but when it comes to getting a picture of your overall finances, or saving for a major purchase, or splitting the tab at a restaurant, you’re pretty much on your own.